The Tyrant's Pet

Once everyone was fast asleep, Abel and Aries were already preparing for their silent departure. Standing in the middle of the chamber, she watched him tie the drawstrings of her cloak in front of her.

"All done." Abel smiled triumphantly and then offered his hand for her to clasp.

Aries took a deep breath and clasped his hand, eyes still on him. "I'm nervous."

"You're with me. You'll be fine." He nodded reassuringly, guiding her towards the balcony. When they stepped foot outside, Abel and Aries looked at each other. Her grip around his hand tightened until they trembled.

"Tell me once you're ready, darling," he said, guiding her closer to the railing.

Aries took deep breaths with her eyes closed. When she reopened her eyes, her grip around his hand loosened.

"I'm ready," she remarked, making him smile.

Abel then released her hand, walking behind her. In one swift move, Aries was already in his arms while she clutched his shoulder on instinct. Her heart thudded, watching him gaze down at her with a wide smile.

One second later, Aries heard a loud flap and gigantic wings appeared behind him. Her breath hitched as her body flinched, gazing at those wings once more.

"Shall we?"

She snapped her eyes when his voice caressed her ears. Her throat bobbed. eyes shaking at him. Aries tried to calm her racing heart first with deep breaths. When she put her nervousness at bay, she nodded.

"Let's go," came out a whisper, witnessing how the corner of his lips stretched broader until his teeth were on display.

"Hold on tight, darling." Abel looked up, bending his knees. Meanwhile, Aries held on to him as if her life depended on him, making him chuckle.

When his eyes glinted in bright red, cracks appeared on the surface of the balcony where he was standing. And before she knew it, Aries felt this strong wind pressing on her body. As a defense mechanism, Aries hid her face in his chest while clutching his shoulder even tighter.

Soon, the wind grew slightly tamed as they flew at a steady altitude. But Aries kept her face buried in his chest, afraid that if she moved even the slightest, they would fall.

"Darling, look." She heard his encouraging voice, but she didn't move. "Your nervousness will be washed away."

Abel smirked as he glanced down at her, but she still didn't move for the next two minutes. He didn't urge her, but patiently wait until she could muster enough courage. It took her quite some time before taking a peek.

Aries slowly opened one of her eyes, looking up at him briefly. Abel had his eyes ahead and then glanced down upon sensing her gaze. As soon as their eyes met, he winked confidently, which somehow soothed her racing heart.

"You'll be fine," he reassured once again as he set his eyes ahead. "Think of this as riding a galloping horse. It's fun in a way."

At this point, Aries was still unaware of how high they were as she only looked at his face. She only realized they were flying so high when she saw that the night clouds were almost within her reach. Her eyes slowly dilated, stunned at the clouds they simply passed by.

Aries stretched her hand, forgetting her initial fears of falling, eyes on the cloud. But the clouds were farther than she expected, yet she still smiled giddily like a child.

"Can we touch them?" she blurted out under her breath as her heart gradually eased up.

"They don't feel anything, darling." He chuckled. "It's like a mist."

Abel navigated his way to the nearest cloud where she could touch it. As he did so, he observed her and his heart felt full with the giddiness in her eyes. She extended her hand and her brows instantly rose in confusion.

"They're not as soft as I thought they were," she mumbled, a bit disappointed at this discovery, but it surely cemented the grin on his face. "I thought we can jump on them"

"How silly."

"But they look soft like cotton." Aries gazed up at him with a frown. "That's a little disappointing."

"It is." Another brief chuckle escaped his mouth. "I also thought it would be nice to build a house on one of them."

"Really?"

"Darling, even if I am a handsome gentleman now, I was once a child. Obviously, after discovering my wings, I thought it would be nice to live in the clouds. In that case, no one can bother me. I was very upset when I discovered clouds were simply composed of vaporized water and it can only hold itself." He summarized his short story about the clouds and the dream of the young boy Abel.

"If you live in the clouds, does that make you an angel?"

"Darling, do you see any angel around?"

"Mhm." She giggled. "He's here, right in front of me."

Abel arched a brow and gazed down at her. "Very smooth, darling. That healed the wounded heart of that boy. Thank you very much."

"Pfft --!" Aries burst out in laughter but still held on to him. This time, however, she was even more relaxed after all that short talk.

"It's amazing," she breathed out after recovering from her laughter, looking around at the silent sky. "I had never been this close to the sky."

Aries then looked up and her eyes softened. "I didn't think... it was higher than I could ever measure." Her lips curled up subtly.

They were already high up in the sky, but the sky just seemed endless. Still, this was the closest she had been to it, and it was an amazing experience. After some time, she mustered enough courage to look down, and her pupils instantly dilated. Her heart once again pounded against her chest, making her clutch his chest tighter.

"Too... high," came out a nervous voice, seeing some houses and lights as tiny as ants. But the longer she looked, the fear and shock in her heart were replaced with this strange phenomenon while seeing the world from a different perspective.

"So… this is us, huh?" she whispered, eyes softening. "We're just this small."

"Mhm. We're all just a tiny part of this world, darling," he hummed with a subtle smile, eyes ahead. "So it was silly to think one can rule the world. We are nothing but a speck of dust in the eyes of this world. The only time we are someone is in the eyes of those who mattered."

Aries kept her eyes on the ground and hummed. "That's right... but it is still amazing."

"It is." He gazed down and at the same time, she looked up at him. They exchanged smiles before setting their eyes ahead while enjoying the wind and the serenity this altitude offered.